Nothing really original to add to all the 5-star reviews here - I remember when these concerts were announced - Phil had been in post-Jerry limbo, Phish was in fire in their 1.0 incarnation, and this was en Event. I didn't make it to the show, but did quickly obtain CDRs of all three concerts - this was in the no-man's-land days when cassettes were on their way out, but all that digital whatnot wasn't yet a thing....

Anyways, too many highlights to do this one proper justice. It's just an amazing, amazing creation. I'm not a big fan of Wolfman's lyrics, and Trey's attempts at singing them, but check out how they melt that sucker right down!

Even all that "Hello Old Friends" rings emotional for me after almost 20 years since I heard Phil play it, he knowing he was able to keep the reaper at bay for a while....the preciousness of the 'flower growing in the dark'...

You'd be out of your mind to bypass listening to this thing. If you're not a convert after that 34+ min Viola, there's something seriously wrong with you...

wow wow wow......this is really good music performed by really good musicians. The spacey interlude between wolfman's and UJB is so good it feels like the two songs have always been paired together. Kimock is a genius and Trey is awesome. The rest are pretty damn good as well.....lol

Oh man, could you guys imagine if they went into Here Comes Sunshine at the end of Viola Lee? About 25 minutes in, they build it up into a sick slow groove the way the 10/31/98 Wolfman's comes out of space into that lounge groove.

They wanted Here Comes Sunshine so badly!!!

Everything that can be said about a masterful show such as this has been said. I just want to add that Uncle John's Band comes ripping out the gate, Steve teases A New Africa as the icing on the cake!

THIS RUN IS MAGIC

Sooo glad I just stumbled on the youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOpw2Xxs5NY of this show. A quick google and here is an amazing piece of history, music, delight that I cannot believe took me almost 14 years to discover! And from what I'm reading the next 2 nights get even better!?!

There are so MANY incredible shows on the archives, but there always has to be a best, and the phil & paige shows from 4/16-4/18 are those. My favorite question when talking with music fans are? "If you could go back in time and see any show, what would it be?" Of course most people pick out historical dates or people that have already passed. But I think my answer would be, showing up at the 4/16/1999 show and not walking out of that theater until past midnight on 04/18/1999. Thanks for the best shows on the archive.

I forgot how good this run was. It has been a while since I have listened to these shows. The Warfield Kimock/Trey/Page/Molo run is an essential to any fans collection of live music. Timeless.

IMHO: "Hello Old Friend" with Phil's kids singing is one of the truly great moments in the Grateful Dead family history. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the fact that other people disagree with my opinions about the music ...... BUUUUUUTTTTTTT..... for some JACKASS(fitzy77); to rip Donna Jean Godchaux is one thing, everybody's got their opinions, (I gaurantee she can sing a hell of a lot better than you can!). But to rip Phil's kids??? That's absolutely dispicable. I hope you made that comment in a drunken stupor because it would make me incredibly sad to know that someone would actually think, muchless say something so horrible.
Pardon my tyraid, but there are certain things I just can't let go uncommented upon (even if they are six year old reviews). NO OUR LOVE WILL NOT FADE AWAY!!!!

I'm old enough to have seen the Dead, Zappa, Phish, and many others back when they were young and full of energy. The music here is TOP NOTCH. If you have adult children, you know why Phil opened with his kids... KIDS ROCK...

oh wow, this actually made me cry.

This is such a special song....even if some of you think that "no one named Lesh should ever sing". You must understand that this is the first show after Phil's trnasplant. This song comes from the heart... can you image how good it must have been to be alive and to be seeing all of his old friends again. I can just image Phil being rolled into the operating room and thinking...I hope I will see you again... as he looks at his kids... for what could have been the last time. Sometimes you have to listen with your heart and not just your ears.

OK, there are pholks who are dissing Phil's singing and others who are complaining about this or that or whatever. Wow. Chill. This was the first night of a three-night run and, as most first nights seem to be, it had its kinks that needed to be worked out. Still, the music here is far superior to most jambands out there today (April 2006...).

I love this show because, warts and all (yes, with a nod to moe. on that phrase) this leads into two totally killer nights to follow. Ya gotta DL all three and listen to 'em to put this show in perspective. It ain't perfect, but it's damn, damn fine! Be sure and check out the 16th and 17th...whew!

What a great run.
Jac from Tucson
tucsondeadhead@yahoo.com

Alabama is a disaster and Phil just does not sound all that confident. This was his first show so we can cut some slack. UJB, Shakedown and IKYR are great. The rest is ok itnever reaches the heights of the other 2 nights just hints at it.

NFA shows you what these guys have in store for the next couple of nights.

The version of "Hello Old Friend" here confirms that no one named Lesh should ever sing. The lack of harmonic sense of Phil's kids makes one long for Donna G. Rest of the show is nice though.

isnt it great to be in a time and place where we can get stuff like this...ive been in iraq the last 10 months and have relied heavily on music archive to keep my sanity, and musicians like this help, i remembering listening to this shortly after the show was played, unfortunatley i lost the discs, found them again wooo hooo

this is a really good show....but i feels more like phish featuring phil lesh playing dead songs...while i know that is more or less what is happening....i still would perfer if the jams were a tad more dead-y and less phish-y....if that makes sense to anyone....that being said i love phish so its not really a bad thing....just know going in that this isnt a typical phil and friends sound......btw the viola lee opener is worth d/ling the entire show...wow

Great run, Sweet tunes, Nice audio!!!

Phil and friends is a great band with slightly jazzed up renditions of Grateful Dead tunes, but when you add Trey's guitar and voice, and Page's keys and voice, that's the cherry on that sundae. Row Jimmy Row Jimmy Row Jimmy!!! Trey sounds great on this one just like he sounded great this first time I heard him sing it! That was 5-4-99 (acoustic solo). Anyway, 5 stars for this show, and thanks to Phil and his Phriends!

All three shows, April 15,16, and 17 are great, although my favorite is the 17th. Featuring an all star cast of Phil, Trey Anastasio (Phish), Page McConnel (Phish), John Molo, and Steve Kimock.

These shows belong in your collection

All three shows, April 15,16, and 17 are great, although my favorite is the 17th. Featuring an all star cast of Phil, Trey Anastasio (Phish), Page McConnel (Phish), John Molo, and Steve Kimock.

These shows belong in your collection

Fantastic sound quality!!!! Thanks for the great recording.....